Huge win for car owners! All TSBs to be made public.
The Center for Auto Safety just made the NHTSA (US Government) make public the full text of all TSBs from now on. They are the same organization that has petitioned the NHTSA & filed lawsuits to protect car owners over exploding gas tanks & other major safety issues.
Whenever you drive in your car, you are safer thanks in part to a lot of work over the years by this small but very effective consumer advocacy group.

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2005 Honda Odyssey Owner Comments

Odyssey EX-L 3.5L V6

Automatic transmission

125,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I have a 2005 Honda Odyssey that had a transmission failure at approximately 125,000 miles. Initial symptoms included RPM "stuttering" around 40 miles an hour, like the transmission was trying to downshift. Soon after, the transmission would slip into neutral while driving along, or after stopping, the transmission would fail to engage and the engine would just rev.

Took it to my local independent mechanic who diagnosed the problem as "internal transmission failure". Cost $4,500 to replace with a Jasper transmission.

Opened a case with Honda of America. They were unwilling to provide any reimbursement, due to the fact that I am not the original owner, and all servicing of the vehicle did not take place at a dealership. They offered me $200 in dealer credit, as I own two Hondas.

Unimpressed with the reliability of the 2005 Honda Odyssey, and would not recommend ownership of one.

Odyssey EX-L

Odyssey EX-L V6

Automatic transmission

66,000 miles

Started out noticing a shutter when shifting from 3rd to 4th around 35 MPH and 1500 RPM. Diagnosed as a torque convertor failure. I had the transmission rebuilt by a local transmission repair chain. So far, no problems with the rebuilt. Still disappointed by the lack of quality in this Honda problem (I expected more than 66,000 before a transmission failure).

My advice, don't buy the first couple of years of a new Odyssey model. Don't believe me, check the stats from this website or Consumer Reports. I'd buy a Sienna if I could do it over.

Odyssey EXL 3.5L

Automatic transmission

59,543 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

To whom it may concern,

I purchased a 2005 Honda Odyssey from a local dealer less than 3 weeks ago. After a couple of days I noticed that the transmission is slipping. I took it to my local mechanic and he told me that the vehicle had transmission problems. I decided to take the car to the Honda Dealer to be sure of this. I immediately took the car to the Honda dealership and after the inspection they told me that the transmission mount needs to be changed. I took this information to my mechanic and he ordered the part from Honda and he changed the transmission mount. I paid close to $500 to my mechanic to do this. After one day, I noticed that the same problem was occurring. I took the vehicle back to the Honda dealer and they told me that the original diagnosis by them was wrong and that I needed to replace the transmission. To my understanding this vehicle had a warranty since it had less than 100,000 km on it. Honda refused to cover the transmission and told me it would cost $3500 to fix the problem, and then they offered me $6500 to buy the vehicle from me. I felt extremely humiliated since I paid $15,000 for this car less than 3 weeks before that date. I purchased a Honda because of the brand and the service which I expected from the dealership. Had I known that I will be treated like this I would never purchase this car. Out of good will my vehicle should be covered under the warranty. The service manager was rude and put me under a lot of stress by being inconsiderate and offering to purchase my vehicle for less than half of the market value. I deserve to be reimbursed for the transmission on this vehicle. I will never purchase a Honda from now on and I will make sure that I use all of my abilities and resources to notify the public through newspapers and other methods of media to allow people to be aware of the poor service from this company.

Odyssey EX-L V6

Automatic transmission

72,000 miles

We purchased a used Honda Odyssey EX-L with RES/NAV approximately 2 and a half years ago. Mileage about 50,000. We started noticing the famous "vibration" between 30-45, and an increase in road noise in general about six or seven months ago. After several trips to the dealer, it has finally been diagnosed as the transmission. Recommendation was full replacement at 88,000 miles. The problem started occurring at around 74000 miles Cost: $4200. Absolutely ridiculous!

This is apparently a well known problem for this particular year, very well documented. For some reason it has still not reached recall status yet. I had my transmission serviced appropriately since I've owned it, and there is not reason in the world that I should be replacing a transmission on a Honda at this point. My dealership did convince Honda to pay half, which we are grateful for, but also shows that Honda knows they have a problem.

Bottom line: We are out $2000 dollars for a repair that is a result of a Honda defect. Very disappointed and leery about purchasing another Honda Odyssey.

Odyssey Touring 3.5L

Automatic transmission

187,000 miles

I can not complain about transmission having to be rebuilt after 187,000 miles, but the complaint is do not listen to or go to the dealerships. What they tell you is untrue and they are going to try and take you for anywhere between $3200 for a bad fix using a transmission out of wrecked van to $6,000 for a new one. If you go to this guys website www.danielstransmision.com you will see he has worked on 1000's of these transmission which all seem to fail mostly before 100.000 miles due to design issues. He rebuilt mine and many others for $1,950 and people I have talked to have driven over 100,000 miles more since he rebuilt transmission. So search your area find someone who works on Honda transmission and save yourself lots of money, as dealerships will tell you they are not allowed to work on them and you must replace them and they are not cheap.

Odyssey EX 3.2L V6

Automatic transmission

88,000 miles

I took my van to the dealer to have it checked for front end noise, transmission shudder, power steering whine, etc, etc. I was shocked to get a list of things back that we would need to have replaced, ranging from sway bar parts to a new transmission! The parts alone were listed at $6,300. At 88,000 miles, of course, warranty is not an option.

I bought Honda for the quality, chose an expensive, high end model because I planned to have it for many years. At this point we haven't decided whether to have it repaired or try to trade it, but a trade in this condition is almost pointless.

Odyssey EXL V6

Automatic transmission

42,000 miles

Sometime just after 36K miles (the maximum cutoff point for the standard warranty), the transmission developed a "shudder" under light throttle applications going up or down slight grades. At first, I suspected an engine misfire, possibly related to the VCM (Variable Cylinder Management). I did not learn that it was actually a transmission problem until I took it to the dealer for routine service at 42K miles. I informed the dealer regarding the "shudder" and the dealer later confirmed it to be the transmission generating the "shudder". The dealer reported a problem specifically with the torque converter. Rather than replace just the torque converter, the dealer replaced the entire transmission. The vehicle had been serviced regularly at this dealership. I did not have the extended warranty, yet the dealer replaced the transmission with only a very nominal deductible. I am very pleased with how the dealer handled and resolved the problem; I am not pleased with the quality of my Honda vehicle.

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